Lovely beer

Today was the first Sunday for months that I didn’t have to do the watering because Pierre was here and offered to do it.  My fingers were not as bad as I thought they would be, but I couldn’t do the jobs I had planned to do.  I wanted to do some sign painting but it would have been too dusty and dirty for my fingers.

So I had a very easy morning and then went out to lunch in Pondy with Ashok.  This is the beer I drank – very nice.

Ouch!

Managed to crush the middle fingers of my left hand today while helping Rajan to hang up a rather heavy picture.  He hooked the picture over the nail, but then the nail dropped out.  The picture smashed onto my fingers and crushed them between the picture and desk.

Ouch!  Hope my nail does not drop off.

I think I really must try and get that time off now that the moving is done.  There will always be jobs to do and most of them can wait until I get back.

Building finishing

I was promised the building work would be finished today, but there is still a lot to do.

I was very taken with how much better the Aldebaran star cabin looks now that it has been white washed and has a new front step.  It looks quaint rather than scruffy and run down!

Boat watching

Today my daughter Mary has been swimming a relay across the English Channel with five friends.  She is doing it in memory of Martha, her first child who was still born, and to raise money for SANDS a charity that supports women who have had a still birth.

The picture is of the pilot boat, Anastasia, which they are using.  I have spent all day watching the web page where they continuously update where the boat as got to.  They started at 5.08am from Dover and according to the map they must now, at just after 2.00pm UK time, be in sight of the French coast.

I think it is a beautiful way of paying tribute to Martha and already they have raised over £10,000. I am so proud of her.

Patchwork of Buddha Garden

Have spent a lot of today making notices for all the new places – office and kitchen – as well as information posters for the boards outside the office. 

One of the things I did was this patchwork of pictures which I am going to use on a table in the office with glass on top of it.

Goat gate

This morning we mulched in Jalabhoomi using the old keet from the dormitory roof and built yet more structures around the amla trees to protect them from goats.  In the course of the morning we found two places where, with the help of humans, goats were coming in and out.

This was the largest one.  So many goats have come in and out they have worn away a path!  We have closed it but for how long remains to be seen.

Feels intense

I feel in the middle of an intense vortex of energy.  Rajan is at the hospital so presumably the baby is on its way.  Sivakala had to leave early as after a difficult night her son had a fit at school and had to be taken to the hospital.  Mary is swimming across the Channel with five other friends in aid of SANDS, the still birth support association. Mary and one of her friends is doing the swim in memory of their still born daughters, Martha and Imogen. After all those ideas coming over the weekend I have a huge amount to do sorting out the new book.

To cap it all I have just had a visit from a man with a drill who has put up my water filter system.  Hopefully this is the last of the grit in my home, but who knows.

Summer solstice

Felt I had to include a picture of the sun as today is the summer solstice.

It has been a very creative day sorting out how I am going to publish a booklet about eating seasonal food.  I did a mock up today of how the booklet will look and Isabelle agreed to do the layout for the cover (which will include the cover of the e-book) and the pull out pictures of seasonal food.  It will work very well with the website and e-book that I discussed yesterday.

Tried unsuccessfully to get the flash working on my camera.

Settling in

Today we cleared out the dormitory and set up two beds for the two volunteers expected over the next two days.  We also got rid of a huge pile of wood left over from taking down the last thatched volunteer accommodation. It will be used as firewood by a local school.

Had a long discussion with Mohan who is going to help me with my next book ‘Eating with the Seasons’. He will make sure the e-book is properly laid out and will set up an interactive website for the recipes.  

The last piece of the jigsaw

Today we moved into the new office and I feel we have put the last piece of the moving project in place.  We still have clearing up to do but I feel that something has clicked and that basically everything is now where it needs to be.

The office is smaller and darker than the other one and the picture shows how Rajan has put his desk right in the middle where he can see everything – water tank overflowing, people coming in the gate etc.  There is a covered place where he can work outside if he wants to so I think it will be OK.

I’m obviously very pleased but am too busy to really enjoy it yet. 

Yet more grit

I didn’t think it was possible to have yet more grit around, but there was.  The mason came today to put cement on top of the pipes that were set into the walls yesterday.  This meant there were tiny little bits of cement around.  The picture shows the cement around the water pipe inside my room where my water filter will be fixed.  The grey stuff on the wall around it will probably turn into grit when it dries!

Unfortunately he did not completely finish doing the piece along the bottom of my wall outside. I think this will make a lovely home for some ants unless it is finished very soon.

Have had a very tiring day with a difficult meeting with even more difficult notes to write.

Grit everywhere

The plumber came this morning and did this work to put pipes in so that I can install my water filter.  He had to do some cutting work inside as well as outside the house as in the picture.  It seemed to take me a long, long time to get rid of all the grit and even my eyelashes were heavy with the stuff.

As if that was not enough the electrician came this evening to install some more plug sockets.  This required drilling and even more grit on the floor.

With electrical and plumbing work being done in the new office as well there really is grit everywhere.

New cooker!

Yesterday afternoon Rajan and I took the last of the money out of the Buddha Garden accounts and went into Pondy to get a range of things for the new places.  One of the things we bought is this cooker for the new kitchen.  It was more expensive than the ordinary run of the mill cooker, looks really beautiful and is easier to clean.

I am really pleased with it although unfortunately the picture doesn’t really do it justice.  I hope Sivakala likes it when she comes back tomorrow.

First breakfast

This is a picture of our first breakfast together in the new kitchen.

It feels as if all the disruption of moving was worth it.

Unexpected beauty

I was doing the irrigation this morning and a beautiful smell was wafting around me.  I thought it might be from a nearby incense factory, but saw that it was from the yellow blossom of these two trees.

I really wish there was a way to embed the smell into the picture.  Although the blossom is lovely to look at, the smell  greatly enhances its beauty.

Second step of the move

I slept very badly and woke up aching in every muscle and feeling like I had gone through the washing machine.

We not only emptied the old kitchen and brought everything over to the new one, but also did all the breaking up so it is ready to start with the building work.  The new kitchen looks really beautiful and I hope it will be a good space to cook and eat.

Somehow we also managed to move the wifi dish and this was switched on in the evening.  

Wonderful! I feel I am properly moved in now.

First move

Today was the first step of the move.  All my stuff going from what will be the new kitchen to the old office.

Miraculously I managed to move and tidy everything up before I went to sleep.

Border breached

Early this morning we had another encroachment event when next door neighbour came and cut some trees on our land.  We called the police who came and took the most decisive action I have ever seen since being in India.  He confiscated the chain saw – although I did feel a bit sorry for the person who it belonged to as he was probably cutting trees as he was told and nothing to do with the encroachment.

In the picture the policeman in the red shirt is explaining about confiscating the chain saw.  The person in the blue jeans is a volunteer who looks a bit nervous about the whole thing. The person who owns the chain saw is looking very anxiously at it.

I could have done without all the extra hassle and work caused which included writing reports and taking them to the police station.

Blue wave

The keet work on this roof was actually finished yesterday but it was only as I was looking at the picture today that I noticed this blue wave. 

Its like there is a blue wave along the top of the roof and everything around is connected to it.  I only saw it in the picture, not in reality.  Yet I have a feeling of being carried along by waves of something.

After talking to Vivek today about various developments taking place I feel a very positive flowing.

New curtains

I spent all this afternoon tacking up these curtains.  Rajan is going to see about a new food cupboard today at a carpentry shop which is near the tailor.  It was a good chance to get the curtains to the tailor to give him enough time to finish them before or soon after I move.

Amazingly I had enough time this afternoon to complete the job before Rajan left.  Rajan’s friends came to help so that everything is moved out of the office and the painting starts tomorrow.  I am aiming to move on Friday and sort out the new kitchen on Saturday.

I get the feeling that everything is flowing but we will have to  see how the reality develops

In the stream of things

After working on the roof all weekend the team finished off the thatching today.  This is the beginning of what is going to be a busy week moving things around.

While there are a lot of things to think about I get the feeling that it is all moving along how it should.  And that all I need to do is move with it.

Sleeping with the snake

Ever since yesterday I have wanted to draw this picture of me sleeping with the snake.  Although it wasn’t exactly how it happened as the snake was beside the bed, not on the bed with me.

I saw the snake in the shape of a figure of eight – or infinity – and eating its own tail. This is called the Ouroboros which can signify the eternal dance of the cosmos, and according to Jung, infinity and wholeness.

Cobra

I moved my bed this morning and was amazed to find this snake – a cobra – which must have been there all night.  And maybe the night before, who knows! 

We have a crew here doing some re-thatching and one of them came with a big stick and persuaded it to leave.  Which it did eventually after hiding under the bed for a while.

Since the whole place is netted I cannot understand how it managed to get in. Although Rajan found a small hole that it could have crawled through.

I wasn’t scared and in fact felt that there was a very good energy around it. 

A hive of activity

Buddha Garden was a hive of activity this evening.  We decided to plant out a very long bed in the Souryan garden with bean seedlings.  It had to be done then as they were getting rather large and it is too hot to plant them in the mornings.  We finished just before it got dark.

At the same time the electrician came and did the electric work in what is now the office and eventually will be my house. Then I found that the builders had brought a generator and light so they could put up the roof in the new cabin they are building.

Suddenly things have got very intense around the buildings and the changes we are making.

A lot of pictures

I took a lot of pictures today both for the Facebook page and the book.  I am finding that I need to walk around with my camera at the ready.  There are a lot of good pictures around and I need to be ready for them.

Of all the pictures I took today I like this one the best.  I like the quality of the light falling on the lemons against the blue sky.

What a day!

Have had a difficult day, the worst thing being that my bank card has been blocked because of fraud.  This meant a lot of phone calls on a very bad line to the bank. I also couldn’t pay for the writing software and so couldn’t get to my writing.  Fortunately Emma paid for it for me so at least I can carry on with that.  At the same time the Buddha Garden website has been hacked so that has needed work on it and new passwords.  I have spent all day sorting all this stuff out and felt that I haven’t done anything worthwhile.

I took this picture this morning of everyone coming in after they had finished picking cashews.  I like the light around them as they go through the gate.  As well as all the hassle there was light for me today in that a volunteer who walked in this morning is willing to build me an app and help with the new book. 

Feeling down

Had a horrible Farm group meeting and am distressed at the way I responded to it.  I seem to upset a lot of people and feel unable to bring anything positive to the situation. 

Spoke to Pierre and feel very much that he wants to change things in a way that is at odds with how I see Buddha Garden. Is it time for me to leave the place to him or someone else?

Despite all this the cabin is getting built.  A volunteer who left over the weekend has come back and a lovely volunteer from Singapore has just walked in. 

I have to trust that all is well and that all will be well.

Moving still

I felt things moved forward this morning after I had discussed the new kitchen with Pierre and Sivakala. We are going to make the new kitchen in what is now my place, but will re-do the keet first.  We will talk about everything again and what happens after thatwhen Vivek comes back on June 11^th.

Have moved things forward with the book and website by talking to Bala who looks after the website and my taking a lot of pictures about vegetable growing this morning.

The picture is one I took this morning.  Its what we do every day in the mornings which may not seem very interesting but day by day it’s the work that produces our food.